Less than ideal doesn’t cover it
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the arrest of 14 Wet’suwet’en land defenders a “less than ideal situation” this week, adding everyone has the right to protest, as long as they respect the rule of law.
Let’s unpack that for a moment. A “less than ideal situation” is missing the sale on three-ply Kleenex at Shopper’s Drug Mart and having to settle for two-ply instead.
A “less than ideal situation” is locking your keys in your car.
The arrests of 14 people by heavily armed RCMP officers over an issue that will loom large in the 2019 federal election — adherence to Indigenous human rights and land title? Less than ideal doesn’t capture it.
As this week again showed, on a number of important fronts, the Trudeau government’s relations with Indigenous communities are nowhere near ideal.
Take the situation that transpired in an Ottawa hearing room on Wednesday, as Canada once again found itself arguing against Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Family and Caring Society. At issue was which children are Indigenous enough, according to the Indi- an Act (a paternalistic law created in 1876 that governs the lives of all Status Indians in this country), and therefore who should qualify for services under Jordan’s Principle, which aims to ensure all Indigenous kids receive equitable care no matter where they live.
At the end of the hearing, Blackstock said “nobody had an answer as to what will happen to children” in need of urgent care for life-threatening conditions while the tribunal process continues — or, more to the point, who will pay for their care. At least until the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal meets again to discuss this issue in March, children will remain at risk.
She added the society has offered to sit down and mediate directly with the government.
Blackstock will never support using Canada’s Indian Act blood quantum method to determine who is, or is not, First Nations. Belonging should be decided by the Indigenous communities themselves, not by Ottawa.
“Our ancestors were distinct First Nations citizens before the Indian Act and so are we,” Blackstock eloquently tweeted.
Time and time again, Canada fails to understand the importance of Indigenous law and the sacred bonds with the land and communities.
This was evident, too, in the “less than ideal” situation playing out in northern British Columbia this week. Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs are caretakers of 22,000 square kilometres not covered by any treaty. Hereditary chiefs have protected the land, on behalf of families, since before Canada existed.
This isn’t a part-time job; it is a sacred duty.
When it came time to “consult” on the proposed $6.2 billion Coastal GasLink pipeline, the hereditary chiefs, unlike the chiefs and band councils, were left out.
On Wednesday, in the interests of the safety of the land defenders, Wet’suwet’en chiefs struck an interim agreement to give the company temporary access behind the gates.
This isn’t over by a long stretch, warned the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs (UBCIC) Grand Chief Stewart Phillip.
It is neither “adequate nor substantial” for companies and governments to deal with the elected band councils and then turn around and say we have done our consultation work, Phillip said.
The 675-kilometre pipeline project could be further delayed if the National Energy Board decides that the pipeline falls under federal, not just provincial, jurisdiction, he said. That would mean environmental hearings would take place. For the prime minister, the Site C Dam on the Peace River presents yet another situation that is far from ideal. And it is one that has caught the attention of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which was first reported by The Narwhal, an online investigative news site (full disclosure: I am a volunteer on The Narwhal’s board of directors.) The UN body has ordered that Canada suspend construction on the 1,100 megawatt hydro dam, which would flood 128 kilometres of the Peace River in Treaty 8 territory. The UBCIC has launched a civil suit against construction.
“The committee is concerned about the alleged lack of measures taken to ensure the right to consultation and free, prior and informed consent with regard to the Site C dam, considering its impact on Indigenous peoples control and use of their lands and natural resources,” said the Dec. 14, 2018 letter that was sent to Rosemary McCarney, Canada’s ambassador to the UN.
The committee gave Canada until April 8, 2019 to respond.
Now, prime minister, that is less than ideal.